Beloved Nashville-based and transcendental Americana singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter recently released his fifth album, If I Were a Butterfly. This album stands apart from his previous work and, depending on your perspective, could easily be considered his best. The ten tracks emerge from a period marked by turbulence – pandemic isolation, personal loss, and heartbreak. While these challenges often lead artists inward, If I Were a Butterfly is Baxter’s expression of solitude, recorded in the stillness of Thunder Sound, a former rubber band factory turned recording studio in the heart of Kentucky.
Despite the heavy inspiration, the album isn’t weighed down by sadness. Instead, it’s vibrant, playful, and brimming with charm. Baxter blends psychedelic pop rock with his own distinctive flavor, creating a sound that feels like a cross between Beck and The Beatles – yet wholly his own. If I Were a Butterfly is a refreshing, inventive collection that effortlessly jams while offering something deeper underneath the surface.
– @meanwhile_in_music
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“If I Were a Butterfly plays out like an extended audio diary with childhood tapes, field recordings, live intimate moments, and orchestrated sessions working together to produce work emblematic of a master craftsman who has maintained the wonder of beginner’s mind”
– @americanahighways
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“ Thanks to the extraordinary care and ingenuity behind its creation, If I Were A Butterfly arrives as a work of rarefied magic, capable of stirring up immense feeling while leaving the listener happily wonderstruck”
– @tinnitist